In The Dark Of The Night
by Cuda77
Summary: Mindy is woken by a really bad nightmare and seeks out Dave for comforting. Over the course of the night, the two discover just how much they mean to each other and become even closer friends. Rated for language.


**Kick Ass and all characters mentioned within is the intellectual property of Mark Millar, and I am not him. I'm just borrowing his creations to make them dance and sing for my own twisted amusement. If anybody is making any money off of this, it isn't me so don't sue my broke ass if this upsets you.**

**This is my first Kick Ass fanfic and I'm kind of nervous about it. Mainly that I made Mindy too pussified. But I'm hopeful that it's still an entertaining story. Hope you enjoy!**

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"Time to watch your daddy die, you little cunt."

Hit Girl lifted her head and stared right into Frank D'Amico's hateful eyes. In one final act of defiance, she spat blood at his face, managing to get him with a decent spray. D'Amico simply chuckled to himself since he knew she couldn't do anything more than that and pulled out a handkerchief to mop the blood away. Then, he turned to face Big Daddy who was bound up in a chair and softly moaning in pain from the beating he'd already received. Frank lit a lighter and placed it at Big Daddy's feet and his kerosene-soaked body started to go up in flames. Big Daddy screamed in agony as the flames burned his body while Frank cruelly laughed at his pain.

Hit Girl cried and screamed out as well as she thrashed against her own bonds, desperate to try and save him. But it did no good; she was helpless and being forced to watch her father be burned alive. Then without even looking back behind him, Frank cocked his gun and pointed it directly between Hit Girl's eyes. Opting against any sort of cheesy comic book villain lines or fanfare, he simply pulled the trigger.

In a small bedroom in Queens, Mindy Macready sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for air as if she'd been strangled. Her eyes flew across the room, trying to find Frank D'Amico or her daddy but found neither. Finally realizing that she was only having a dream, the young girl let out a pained whine and flopped back down into bed.

This had not been the first time in the past few months that she'd had this particular nightmare. But what troubled Mindy so much is just how much it would rattle her every time she would have it. In her brief existence, Mindy had already seen and done some pretty twisted shit so she figured she should be desensitized to it by now. And yet when this nightmare would roll around, it would drain her of all of her strength and willpower and leave her feeling very broken and alone.

Normally when she'd have this dream, she'd receive comfort from Marcus, her surrogate father. But tonight he happened to have pulled a late shift so Mindy was all alone in the house tonight. Just as well in her mind since now nobody could see her cry and be scared. When you're one of New York's most feared and most intimidating vigilante crimefighters, things like emotions could spell the death of her, or at the very least, her reputation. It sucked that Mindy had to remind herself that even though she could sometimes be death incarnate, she was still human and prone to weaknesses like this.

Mindy tried desperately to get back to sleep but could not shake the dread and the helpless feeling she'd had during the dream as she and her daddy were tortured and she'd been forced to bear witness to his slow, painful death. She was never going to get back to sleep on her own; Mindy needed somebody to be there for her. Somebody to tell about this and they'd tell her it was okay and comfort her.

Dave.

Mindy grabbed her phone off the nightstand and quickly speed-dialed Dave. She knew that he probably wouldn't be thrilled with her calling at this late on what was supposed to be an off-day for them but she also knew he couldn't resist helping her when she needed it. After five rings, the line finally connected and Mindy heard lots of shuffling before she heard Dave's tired voice.

"Hello?" Dave yawned.

"Hey Dave," croaked Mindy in reply. "I'm really sorry to call this late but it's important."

"I sure hope it is since it's almost 3:00. What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"Not really, no. Listen, I'm just kind of freaked right now and I'm here all alone and I just really need to be with someone. Would you be cool if I came over?"

"Um, yeah, I guess that'd be fine. I'll be sure to leave the window open for you."

"Thank you so much. You're truly the best Dave."

"Yeah, I know I am. But I never get sick of hearing it either."

Mindy rolled her eyes before replying with, "See you soon then, ass. I'll be there in 10."

Mindy hung up her phone, quickly threw on some jeans over her pajamas, grabbed her motorcycle helmet and headed outside.

_**Nine minutes, thirty seven seconds later…**_

Mindy brought her purple Ducati motorcycle to a halt outside of the Lizewski residence. She had to admit she made excellent time and that it was a real benefit having a guardian like Marcus so she could study what streets the police didn't usually patrol at night. Because of this, Mindy was able to ride wide open the entire way to Dave's without having to worry about anyone bothering her for speeding or running red lights.

Mindy shut the motor off and wheeled her bike back behind the Lizewski house so that it wouldn't be seen by any junkie cocksuckers who might try to steal it or bust it up. She delicately closed the gate so as not to further disturb the neighbors or Mr. Lizewski and walked back to the front of the house. Then, as she had many times before now, Mindy climbed up the front porch, carefully crossed over to Dave's window and let herself inside.

Dave was sitting in his bed, playing a game on his laptop when Mindy came in. While she busied herself with shedding her motorcycle jacket and helmet, he set his computer down on the floor. When he looked back, he noticed how red Mindy's eyes were and opened his mouth in surprise since for as long as he'd known her, Mindy rarely cried for any reason. She was right; this was something important.

"What's wrong Mindy," asked Dave, quite concerned about his best friend. "I'm here now and if you wanna talk, I'll be glad to listen."

Mindy didn't respond at all to him initially, choosing instead to just stand next to the window and stare at Dave's comforter. After a few uncomfortable moments, Mindy simply walked over to Dave's bed, climbed in and rested her head against Dave's chest as a fresh wave of tears came flooding out. Dave wrapped the tiny blonde up in his arms and held her as she cried, not saying anything more for fear of making her feel worse. As his shirt quickly became damp from Mindy's tears, Dave simply stroked her hair and back to try and soothe his friend.

At that moment, James Lizewski opened the door to his son's room to try and discover why he heard someone crying inside. He saw Dave and Mindy lying in Dave's bed together and his mouth gaped open as he wondered just what the hell Mindy was doing there. Dave heard his door open and glanced over to see his father looking aghast and the two Lizewskis locked eyes. They then proceeded to have a wordless conversation with each other through their expressions.

"What is she doing here?" questioned James.

"Something's wrong," replied Dave, nodding down to indicate Mindy crying.

"What happened? Is everything okay?"

"I don't know yet," shrugged Dave

"Anything you need me to do?"

Dave shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

James nodded and shrugged to himself, still not really sure how to feel about all this. "Well, I'm going back to bed then." James then silently closed the door and left Dave and Mindy alone to deal with whatever was troubling her.

After a few more minutes spent in relative silence, Mindy finally seemed to get ahold of herself again and stem the flow of tears. But even after she finished crying, Mindy still clutched onto Dave possessively and didn't appear to have any intention of letting him go. Either Dave didn't seem to mind or care since he still kept reflexively rubbing her back and scalp.

"Hey, you feeling any better," Dave whispered softly to Mindy. She responded by simply nodding her head in confirmation. Dave then asked, "Is there anything you need me to do for you?"

"Just keep holding me," Mindy mumbled from against Dave's chest. Dave was happy to oblige and squeezed Mindy tighter against him. Mindy snuggled her head closer to his chest and Dave placed a small kiss on her head. Mindy shivered at that but didn't hate it one bit. On the contrary, she felt rejuvenated by it. She could feel all of her worries and fears melting away as the kiss trickled from her head down her body. Mindy craned her head up to look at Dave who was smiling down at her warmly in a way that Mindy felt was meant to reassure her. It worked. "Could you please do me one favor," she asked him hoarsely, her voice still a bit thick from her crying.

"Name it," answered Dave immediately, eager to help in any way possible.

"Could you kiss me one more time? But for real this time?"

Dave's smile faltered at that request. As much as he loved and cared for Mindy as his best friend, he had to remind himself that he was technically a legal adult now and doing something like that with a minor like Mindy was quite against the law. And Dave was already racking up quite an impressive rap sheet with the local authorities without tacking statutory rape onto it. But when Mindy reached up to touch his cheek and he looked down into her haunted green eyes that looked to be pleading with him, he couldn't bear to deny her. But in order to keep some semblance of control over the situation, he decided to throw an extra requirement into the deal.

"I will on the condition that you promise me that it's just the one kiss and that afterwards, you'll tell me about what happened."

Mindy closed her eyes and nodded her approval. She'd come over with every intention of spilling her guts to Dave but for whatever reason, as soon as she got into Dave's room, she just froze. But after Dave's kiss on her head, Mindy felt all the blocks that had gone up evaporate and she felt her confidence rise. She just needed one final push to get her completely back on track.

Dave's stomach was in knots but he steeled his nerves by trying to remind himself that this was for the best since Mindy rarely showed emotion like this. So unusual circumstances call for unusual solutions. He then brushed some stray hairs away from Mindy's face, tucked them behind her ear, gently cupped her cheek in his hand and gently pressed his lips to hers.

Mindy felt her heart swell and her skin tingle as Dave's lips found hers. She snaked her arm around Dave's neck and buried her hand in his curly hair. Meanwhile, Dave's fingers lightly stroked her cheek and neck and Mindy couldn't help noticing how soft Dave's hand was against her skin. As they gently kissed, Mindy let out a content sigh into Dave's mouth that he couldn't help reciprocating.

After a few moments more of tender kisses that had just a hint of more-than-just-friends buried within it, the two broke apart with Mindy adding one final peck like Silk Spectre II would do to Dr. Manhattan. Dave opened his eyes and looked back down to find Mindy looking much more like herself. She had a serene little smile on her face and her eyes had gotten their usual glint back in them. Seeing her no longer looking scared and vulnerable made it all worth it for Dave.

"Thanks Dave," Mindy whispered, "that was really nice."

"I guess it was, wasn't it?" Dave admitted, something he didn't want to believe was possible. "You ready to talk now?"

"Yep," said Mindy as she scooted up on Dave's bed so they were now sitting next to each other. "I just really needed that first. Anyway, I'm not proud to admit it but what got me freaked was a nightmare I had. Frank D'Amico had captured my Daddy and me and was torturing the two of us. The bastard was being really dickish about it too since he had us tied to chairs and facing each other and then he'd beat on one of us while making the other watch. And then finally the fucker burned Daddy up and I just had to sit there and watch it happen. But before Daddy died, D'Amico shot me in the face so that Daddy could see me die too."

"Fucking hell," hissed Dave, clearly shaken by the dream as well, even though he was sure it was way worse for Mindy since she actually had to experience it instead of just get it described to her. "I can see why that would spook you. Have you had this nightmare before?"

"Mm-hmm, it's been happening for the past year or so. Tonight was the first night it's happened where Marcus worked though. So I didn't have anyone to comfort me about it and I knew there was no way I'd get back to sleep."

"So you called me."

"Yeah. But it's still really fucking annoying and I feel like such a pussy. I mean I'm fucking Hit Girl. I've seen and done some pretty twisted shit so you think that I'd be able to handle having a nightmare. But no, it comes along and suddenly I'm less threatening than those One Direction fucktards. It's not fucking fair that I'm the person all the criminals and lowlifes in this city are having nightmares about because they're scared shitless that I'm going to paint Brooklyn red with their blood but that I can't handle my own demons. I hate it!" Mindy punctuated her rant by forcefully crossing her arms across her chest and sticking out her bottom lip.

Dave had to strongly resist the urge to laugh at Mindy's antics. He knew that even though she was exaggerating her annoyance by pouting about it, it was still something that deeply bothered Mindy. She hated anything that reminded her that even though she was quite possibly the baddest motherfucker in New York, she was still human and prone to certain weaknesses and vulnerabilities that everyone else has to deal with. But what she hated even more was when people didn't take her seriously and Dave knew that if he laughed, she'd get upset and then he'd be paying for it for the next few weeks in training.

"Do you have any theories as to why it's affecting you so much," Dave asked, trying to change tactics to keep him from cracking up.

"Marcus seems to think that it's because in the dream I'm bound up and helpless and can't do anything except watch Daddy die. Because that night in the warehouse, I almost managed to save him; I just ended up running out of time. But in the dream, I'm utterly powerless to stop it and can't save him."

"Yeah, that's really not a fun feeling at all," said Dave hollowly. Mindy noticed the change in Dave's voice and looked up at him. He was staring out blankly into space and Mindy felt her whole body deflate. Of course Dave would know what that felt like, he had to experience it firsthand. And now her dumb ass had just forced him to relive that night. Brilliant, way to fucking go Mindy, it's not bad enough that you're torturing yourself with these silly dreams but now your best friend and closest confidant has to suffer because of it as well. Mindy burrowed her head under Dave's arm and wrapped what she hoped was a comforting arm around his chest. The two sat in silence for a few minutes after that.

"You know," said Dave finally, clearly struggling to keep his voice level and coherent, "if I could go back and change anything at all about that night, I'd change it so I died instead of him. Then at least you two could have stayed together and you didn't have to lose everything."

"No," snapped Mindy as in a flash she had climbed onto Dave's lap and grabbed his face to make him look her square in the eyes. Dave's depression quickly melted into fear as he saw Mindy's eyes blazing in the way they did whenever she was threatening a criminal. He knew how dangerous Mindy could get when she got like this. "Don't you dare say that, you ass. Don't you ever even fucking think it. Do you understand me?"

"The fuck? Um, sure, I understand you. Just please don't hurt me."

"You fucking better understand it," growled Mindy as she released Dave's face. "Because without you, this whole world would be a whole lot shittier than it already is."

"How?"

"I really have to explain this to you? If you had died that night in the warehouse and pretty much the entire Internet had seen it, what do you think would have happened Dave?

"Um, nothing? I mean Katie would have been devastated and so would my dad and Todd and Marty once they figured out it was me who was Kick Ass. But other than that, nothing would have really changed for the worse."

"Wrong," replied Mindy acidly and punched Dave in the stomach. Dave's wind left him and he gasped and coughed trying to regain it while Mindy took the time with him acceptably silent to explain just how wrong he was. "If you had died that night, more than just you would have died. This city's hope would have died too and there wouldn't be any costumed heroes at all. You were their inspiration, jackass. And if you had fucking died, do you think any of them would have suited up? Fuck no they wouldn't have. But because you were strong and took that beating and never gave up, it made everyone believe you truly were super."

"But what about you and your dad," croaked Dave, finally managing to get his wind back, "Why couldn't they have used you two as inspiration instead of me? I mean you two were the real deal. You guys actually got shit done and stopped criminals."

"You just don't get it, do you Dave? My Daddy and I had one goal and one only, to destroy Frank D'Amico and his organization. And we did it as covertly as possible. No cameras, no public appearances, nothing. Nobody would have ever known we exist had Daddy not been a part of that webcast. And then when D'Amico went down, that was going to be the end of it. Daddy would have gotten his revenge and then we were going to retire. He didn't really care about all the rest of the scum in this city; he just wanted to end D'Amico. So yeah, while it may have really sucked for me, I'm glad Daddy died if it meant you were saved."

That last admission absolutely floored Dave and he was left completely speechless. He stared up at Mindy and tried to find any sort of tell that might suggest she was in any way bullshitting him. But looking at her face, he couldn't find any evidence that she wasn't completely fucking serious. Finally, he managed to say to her, "Why?"

"Goddamnit Dave, weren't you just listening? I already fucking explained this," groaned Mindy in exasperation. "Because you did this for all the right reasons. You got into this whole hero thing on your own just because you wanted to do what was right. You wanted to help people and make this city better. Do you have any idea how fucking cool that is? I'm not going to lie here Dave, when I first saw that video of you saving that guy on YouTube, you became my hero. I saw that and I was so fucking inspired because that's the kind of shit I wanted to be doing. I wanted to help people too and not just ice Frank D'Amico and his goons. But Daddy always said that there wasn't time to get involved with that and that we needed to stay focused on our mission."

"Wait, I was your hero? Even though I sucked?"

"That's beside the point, Dave. What matters is that you want to make things better. For all of us and not just yourself. So yeah, even though I might have more skill than you and can be more effective at cleaning up the streets, I still think it's the coolest fucking thing ever that I get to work beside someone like you. And that I get to have a friend as amazing and caring and sweet as you are. If my Daddy had lived, I never would have gotten to do that or have a friend like you. It would have just been the two of us hiding in plain sight forever. If you'll allow me to paraphrase The Dark Knight for a second, Daddy and I may have been the heroes this city deserved but it's not the hero it needed. You were and still are."

"Jesus Mindy," breathed Dave, completely awed and touched by what Mindy had just told him, "that's probably the nicest thing that anyone's ever said to me. I never knew you cared so much since you're always ragging on me about how much I suck and what a big pussy I am."

"I know that I can be hard on you Dave but honestly, I'm just trying to make sure you're tough enough to handle all this shit that's going on. I want you to be strong and to be able to survive and keep going on because of how much you mean to me and all the other heroes and this city. We all need you around so that someday, we might finally have a better world where we're not needed. After all you've done, we can't lose you. I can't lose you. Without you, I couldn't possibly keep doing this."

"Come on now, sure you could," replied Dave eagerly, happy that he finally had an opening to contribute. "You are the strongest person that I know, in every possible way. You never give up, even after you watched your dad die right in front of your eyes. Most people would pack it in right then but instead, you pressed on and still went after D'Amico, even though you had to take a significant downgrade by having me as your backup instead of your dad. You didn't care and still fucking went for it and you won."

"No, we won Dave," Mindy corrected him. "The two of us did. Had it not been for you, I'd be dead too. You saved my ass twice that night. I may have skill and I may be way too fucking hardheaded for my own good but without you, I'm nothing. And I'm not just talking about the hero stuff, I mean on a personal level too. You're the one person in this world who I can always count on, Dave. You're always there for me and support me and have my back no matter what. You're the only person I can relate to and can tell all my problems and hopes and dreams to and not make me feel like a dumbass for thinking like that. You get me in a way nobody else has or ever possibly could. And most important of all, you never try to change me or make me be somebody that I'm not. You're cool with me just the way I am and want me to be me and not just pretend to be like everyone else. You'll never abandon me because of who I am and what I want to be."

Dave grimaced a bit at that since he knew Mindy was making reference to his disastrous breakup with Katie. Katie had dumped him because Dave wanted to take up being Kick Ass again but she forbade it. Dave knew she was just doing it because she was worried about him, especially after the whole warehouse fiasco but he just could not stay away from being a hero. And no matter how much he tried to convince her that he'd be fine and that with D'Amico gone the worst danger had passed, she couldn't get past his alleged selfishness and putting himself at risk and so she left. It had been a hard few weeks after that with plenty of nights spent with Mindy holding him and comforting him that he'd done the right thing and she wasn't worth it. And even though he'd mostly realized she was right and gotten over Katie, there still was a little bit of him that was bitter about the whole thing.

"Then I'll survive," Dave finally said, taking hold of Mindy's hands. "Because I do know how important that it is to have someone like that. And while I certainly wish you had more people who got you like I do, at least you do have at least one. And I know how shitty that can be when the people who are supposed to be there and care for you won't be because they don't like who you are. But you have to promise me one thing Mindy.

"I'll do what I can Dave."

"You have to swear to me that you'll keep fighting too. Because you're that person for me as well. You're the only one who accepts me for who I am and what I want to be. Instead of wanting me to give it all up, you push me to be better. So just as much as you feel like you can't lose me, I can't lose you either for each and every reason you already mentioned."

"I like the sound of that," said Mindy, smiling warmly. "Neither of us can go on without the other so we're going to keep fighting to make sure we stay together."

"Exactly, because then no matter who comes and goes and no matter what shit comes our way, we'll always have each other. And as long as we have that, I think we'll be okay."

"I think so too," confirmed Mindy as she leaned forward and wrapped Dave up in a tight hug. Dave returned the embrace and the two friends sat together like that for awhile, putting a stamp on their vow to always be there for the other. When they finally broke apart, Mindy finally climbed off of Dave's lap and returned to her positioning of snuggling up against him.

"Thanks for letting come over and talk to you Dave," Mindy whispered, trying to stifle a sleepy yawn as she did, "It really means a lot that I can talk to you about shit like that even when it's ridiculously fucking late."

"I wouldn't be a very good friend and partner if I wasn't there for you whenever you needed it," replied Dave, rumpling Mindy's hair a bit. "I just hope you don't keep having that same dream though, especially since it's completely impossible."

"How do you mean?"

"I'd never let you be helpless like that. I'd find some way to break in there and save the two of you."

Mindy felt her eyes well up again but for completely different reasons than before. She knew that Dave was right and that he'd go through hell to save her should she ever really be in a predicament like that. Mindy dabbed at her eyes and then asked Dave, "Have I ever told you that you're the best?"

"I do seem to recall you mentioning it previously, yes," answered Dave cheekily. "But it never hurts to hear it from you since you deserve the best."

"I don't know if I necessarily deserve it but I'm still grateful to have the best," mumbled Mindy sleepily as she snuggled against Dave's shoulder to try and get it properly comfy. Dave took this to mean that she had no intention of going back home tonight so he simply pulled his comforter up and tucked it in around her.

"Trust me, you deserve it," Dave said as he leaned down to give Mindy a kiss on the cheek. "Pleasant dreams Mindy."

As Mindy faded away into sleep, she really did feel like maybe she did deserve the best, and therefore Dave. I mean if he believed it, then why shouldn't she? Dave had never given her any reason to doubt that he meant what he said or that he was in any way sugarcoating his words to make her feel good. And that was the thought that was hanging in her head as she finally dozed off, snuggled against Dave like he was the world's most heroic teddy bear.


End file.
